


New Year, New Beginnings

by Keibey



Category: Aldnoah.Zero (Anime)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-31
Updated: 2014-12-31
Packaged: 2018-03-04 15:16:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,351
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3072647
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Keibey/pseuds/Keibey
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Being rudely awoken in the morning wasn't something particularly new to Slaine.</p>
            </blockquote>





	New Year, New Beginnings

**Author's Note:**

> Happy New Years! /o/

Slaine wasn’t sure if Inaho truly understood what he meant when he explained he was a trained soldier, because it had never stopped his roommate from trying to wake him. Opening his eyes, he had barely registered a dark shape leaning over him before he had grabbed onto the wrist, twisting the trapped arm at the same time he threw his weight in a practiced maneuver. Adrenaline pumping through his veins, he just looked dumbly into brown eyes as he sat on the pliant body underneath him.

“Morning,” Inaho said calmly, expression neutral as always. Slaine’s brain finally caught up, and then he couldn’t scramble off fast enough.

“I-I’m sorry,” he stammered as he retreated to the other end of the bed, knowing by the prickling in his cheeks that he must be beet red. It didn’t matter how many times this happened, there was no way he could just brush off the embarrassment of having pinned and straddled his roommate.

“Get dressed,” the brunet said, rubbing absently at the wrist Slaine had grabbed as he sat up.

“Why?” Slaine asked, confused. He glanced at the clock, but the digital numbers read only a quarter past six, and the alarm bells weren’t ringing.

“We’re going up to the deck.” Inaho climbed off his bed and then disappeared out the door after that, leaving Slaine befuddled. He got changed regardless, hastily throwing on the school uniform and tugging on a coat. He still haven’t got the slightest idea where Inaho had ferreted the clothes from, and in sizes that fit as well, but he didn’t ask; he was in no position to question their generosity anyway.

When he was done, he hesitated in front of his roommate’s coat, hung neatly up on the only hanger they had in the room. Before he could make up his mind about taking it with him, the door opened, Inaho standing in the doorway with a thermos in one hand, a cup in another and what seemed like a thermal blanket under an arm.

“Let’s go,” the brunet said, and Slaine found himself holding the items, and he trailed after Inaho as his roommate started purposefully down the hall, pulling on the coat as they walked.

The rest of the ship was mostly silent, only the most essential personnel were on duty while the others slept off the partying the night before, and it was a simple thing to reach the deck uninterrupted. The Deucalion was cruising in open seas at the moment, their breaths coming out in faint white puffs in the salty air, and Slaine did his best to ignore the span of water beyond the railings. Inaho didn’t seem to be interested in the ocean, keeping as far away from the edge of the ship as possible as he headed towards the central turret – sometimes Slaine wondered if the brunet somehow _knew_.

Movement startled Slaine out of his thoughts as his roommate scaled the turret, settling on top and looking out across the water. Apparently satisfied with the view, Inaho braced himself against the edge of the structure on his hands and knees. “Hand me the things, Slaine.”

He did what he was told, but he only had a moment to wonder if that was all the brunet needed of him before Inaho reached down and offered a slender hand, brown eyes calmly meeting his when Slaine looked up in surprise. “Did you want me to join you?” he asked uncertainly.

“That was the plan,” was the flat reply. Slaine took the hand hesitantly, Inaho taking an impressive amount of his weight as he scrambled up the side of the turret. The brown eyes watched him carefully, as if making sure he wouldn’t pitch back off the edge, and then the brunet turned away, unfolding the thermal blanket. The sky was brightening already, the horizon becoming visible, and soon–

“The first sunrise of the year,” the soft voice cut into his thoughts, and Slaine brought his attention back to the brunet, who had sat down with the blanket around his shoulders. Slaine tentatively took a seat nearby, leaving a respectable space between them, but Inaho only shifted over until they were pressed together from hip to shoulder, throwing one end of the blanket over him.

“Why didn’t you bring your sister?” _Instead_ , he almost added, the word lingering on his tongue, as he watched his roommate unscrew lid of the thermos. Whatever was in it, it steamed as the brunet poured it into the cup.

“Yuki-nee always falls asleep before she can see it,” Inaho answered, and Slaine thought he saw consideration in the act. “It’s been a while since you’ve seen it on Earth, hasn’t it?” Unexpectedly, the brunet handed him the cup, and he took it carefully.

“Thank you.” He took a sip, feeling his eyes widen at the taste of the soup. The rich broth couldn’t have been from the same sort that they served at the canteen, because he would certainly have remembered something this delicious. “Did the cooks make this?”

“No,” the brunet answered, having upturned the thermos lid and using it as a cup, “I got in before they started on breakfast.”

“You really are good at everything,” he smiled, curling his hands around the warmth.

“You’re putting me on a pedestal.” Setting down the thermos, Inaho had wrapped his hands around his cup too, warding off the chill. “I did all the housework for Yuki-nee in our apartment, so I’ve had practice.”

Slaine made an acknowledging noise, but it didn’t feel appropriate to pry. He took another sip of the hot soup and felt it warm him from the inside, the sky brightening steadily as the sun peeked over the horizon. It was a companionable silence as they sat and drank the soup until Inaho spoke.

“What wish would you make?”

Slaine blinked. “Like a new year resolution?”

“No, wishes for things in the new year – happiness, good grades, romance. It’s a Japanese tradition to do that during a shrine visit after New Years; it got me wondering,” Inaho explained blandly, but the brown eyes are fixed on him with interest.

“Oh,” Slaine didn’t have to think at all before he continued, “I would wish for the Princess’ happiness.”

“That’s just like you.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” he asked, uncertain if he was being teased. He couldn’t tell every well with the dim sunlight turning Inaho’s usually brown eyes a distractingly rich, deep red.

“Exactly what I said.”

Slaine gave up with a quiet sigh. “What would you wish for then, Inaho-san?”

“I’ve never thought about it.” The hands curled around the cup tightened ever so slightly before relaxing.

“Surely there’s something?” he prompted, feeling genuinely curious now.

His roommate looked away into the sunrise painting the sky. “Short of reviving the dead,” there was a pause, “I’ll be satisfied if there are more moments like these.” Inaho watched him from the corner of those brown eyes. “Maybe I’m just not ambitious?”

“That’s not it!” Slaine blurted out, and although he deflated slightly when Inaho turned his head to face him, he kept on regardless, “I think these kinds of moments are important too.”

A beat of silence, the brown eyes staring into his own. “You think that moments with me are important?”

The bluntness of the question left Slaine flustered, but at length he managed a quiet, “Yes.” Ignoring the blush threatening to creep up his face, he braced himself and asked more loudly, “Is that a problem?”

“No.” The curve on Inaho’s lips was the smallest smile he had seen, but Slaine felt his pulse pick up anyway. “It just means we are thinking the same thing.”

He looked away quickly, huddling lower into the blanket in hopes that the colour on his cheeks wouldn’t be as obvious. “I hope our wishes come true.” Inaho only hummed in agreement, seeming to be in a good mood as he leaned more of his weight against Slaine. “You’re heavy, Inaho-san.”

“It’s warmer like this.”

Slaine found that he couldn’t say anything against the soft smile.


End file.
